1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capillary dosing unit for the local application of a precise quantity of an aqueous or oily liquid intended in particular for the cosmetic or dermopharmaceutical care of the nails, eyelids or other parts of the face or scalp.
2. Discussion of the Background
Related applicators in the field of cosmetics for delivering a liquid product, in particular to the eyelids, consist of a foam, a felt pad or a flocked adaptor provided with a large quantity of small fibers. These types of applicators preclude the delivery of a very small quantity of product and in particular of a precise dose of nailcare product, sufficient to be spread around the whole nail, to the edge of the nail and of the skin without it being necessary to wipe the nail to remove the excess. Furthermore, the felt pad and the foam release the product too slowly. Hitherto, none of the related applicators (see in particular those of the documents FR-A-2 505 150, FR-A-2 633 256) allows the delivery of exactly the required dose of care liquid at a suitable rate. Furthermore, the quantities delivered to the nail or the skin vary from one application to another. This is due in particular to the fact that these related applicators do not include a system for the automatic wiping of the surplus product.
A related applicator is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2 990 563 and GB-A-1 318 677, which comprises a stem furnished at a first end with a gripping member and at a second end with two slits of rounded shape. This rounded end allows only point contact with the surface of the skin or of the nail, thus requiring the application of the liquid to be repeated several times in order to treat the whole of the relevant region. Furthermore, with the rounded end of the stem it is difficult to spread the product over the area to be treated. Moreover, the contact area of a rounded end cannot be altered. Indeed, whatever the inclination of the applicator, the contact area is always the same and cannot be modified according to the area to be treated, especially according to the relief or shape of the area.
There is therefore still a need for a dosing applicator capable of delivering a small constant dose of liquid product, in particular to the nails or to localized lesions on the skin or scalp which enables the product to be spread easily and which can be used for various shapes of surfaces to be treated while also restricting the number of applications.